Low-pressure Article Swipe
YOU?
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· 2015
· Open Access
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· DOI: https://doi.org/10.2172/1170206
· OA: W4205456462
This final technical progress report describes work conducted by Membrane Technology and Research, Inc. (MTR) for the Department of Energy (DOE NETL) on development of low-pressure membrane contactors for carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) capture from power plant flue gas (award number DE-FE0007553). The work was conducted from October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2014. The overall goal of this three-year project was to build and operate a prototype 500 m<sup>2</sup> low-pressure sweep membrane module specifically designed to separate CO<sub>2</sub> from coal-fired power plant flue gas. MTR was assisted in this project by a research group at the University of Toledo, which contributed to the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of module design and process simulation. This report details the work conducted to develop a new type of membrane contactor specifically designed for the high-gas-flow, low-pressure, countercurrent sweep operation required for affordable membrane-based CO<sub>2</sub> capture at coal power plants. Work for this project included module development and testing, design and assembly of a large membrane module test unit at MTR, CFD comparative analysis of cross-flow, countercurrent, and novel partial-countercurrent sweep membrane module designs, CFD analysis of membrane spacers, design and fabrication of a 500 m<sup>2</sup> membrane module skid for field tests, a detailed performance and cost analysis of the MTR CO<sub>2</sub> capture process with low-pressure sweep modules, and a process design analysis of a membrane-hybrid separation process for CO<sub>2</sub> removal from coal-fired flue gas. Key results for each major task are discussed in the report.
